Speculative fiction author. Freelance editor. Opinionated nerd.

R-8: YA THRILLER: HIDE ME AWAY

Title: HIDE ME AWAY

Age Category: Young Adult

Genre: Diverse Thriller (Own Voices)

Word Count: 62,000

Pitch: When Indian-American teen Tanvi is framed for her classmate’s murder, she must prove her innocence and find the real killer: her cousin, Mimi. The problem: Mimi has been missing and presumed dead for five years.

First 250 Words of the Manuscript:
Ever since my cousin Mimi disappeared, Auntie and I followed a pattern. A routine. At three-fifteen sharp, I texted my standard message to her: School’s done. Smiley face. Home soon. It was second nature, as familiar as getting dressed or brushing my teeth. Or breathing.

After sending the text, I stuck the phone in my jeans pocket and joined the swarm of bodies in the school hallway. The stampede on Friday afternoons often reminded me of the crush at the temple we’d visited in India when I was six. I battled my way through a crowd and spotted my target down the hallway. Bright green eyes under tangled curls, and then the rest of Drake—tall and draped in a sweatshirt and jeans, and leaning against my locker.

Heat crept up my face, a common reaction around Drake. He hadn’t caught on yet, and I had to thank my dark brown skin for that. After flipping my hair to cover the telltale blush on my neck, I approached him.

He looked up from his phone. His gaze zeroed in on me and softened. An answering warmth tugged at my heart.

“I got your message,” he said. “So you’re not coming for the game?”

“Can’t. I have to stay home with Auntie.”

He lowered his eyes, but not before I caught the flash of disappointment in them. Crap. I hated letting my friends down, Drake especially, but it seemed like that was all I did lately.

18 thoughts on “R-8: YA THRILLER: HIDE ME AWAY”

I spy a rainbow! Please send a query, synopsis, and the first chapter (Word documents will suffice) to ssulaiman@talcottnotch.net — and don’t forget to mention #PitchMadness in your subject line. Thanks—looking forward to my read!
Good luck,
–Saba

Great query! I’d love to see more. Please send the first 3 chapters to: TPAqueries@gmail.com, and put “PitMad Requested Mat., Title of ms, Genre, Last name” in the subject line. Paste the sample chapters into the body of the email please. Thank you! ~ Tina P. Schwartz, The Purcell Agency, LLC

I was so intrigued by this entry that I walked right past Gumdrop Pass! Please send your query and first 50 pages, along with a synopsis, to lauren@triadaus.com with “Pitch Madness: YA Thriller HIDE ME AWAY” in the subject line. I look forward to reading! ~ Lauren Spieller, TriadaUS http://www.triadaus.com

I’m racing over the Gumdrop Pass for this one! Please send along your query to querylindsay@emeraldcityliterary.com and attach the first 50 pages as a word document. Make sure to include Pitch Madness in the subject of your email. Thanks!

Cherry Pitfalls! (Query + 1st 100 pages) Please email me at LBiagi@jvnla.com with the material as an attachment and Pitch Madness in the subject line. If you’re able to include a synopsis as well, that would be awesome. Can’t wait to see what happens!

Request to take the Cherry Pitfalls! Please send the query and the first 100 pages (attached as a Word document) to queries [at] parkliterary [dot] com. Please paste the query into both the body of the email and the first page of the Word document. Put “Pete Knapp – Pitch Madness” in the subject line.

Request to take the Cherry Pitfalls! Please send the query and the first 100 pages (attached as a Word document) to queries [at] parkliterary [dot] com. Please paste the query into both the body of the email and the first page of the Word document. Put “Blair Wilson – Pitch Madness” in the subject line.

Ninja agent request! I’d love to see more of this. Could you please send the query, along with the first 50 pages as a Word doc attachment and “Pitch Madness Request” in the subject line, to patricia[at]marsallyonliteraryagency[dot]com? Thank you!